SUBURBAN REPORT.

City to pay church in building dispute

Evanston has agreed to pay $350,000 to a church it had illegally barred from worshiping in a former office building.

Vineyard Christian Fellowship Church will be allowed to hold services in the building it bought six years ago in the 1800 block of Ridge Avenue.

Under the terms of a settlement agreement , the church also agreed that if it ever sold the property, the sale would be made to an entity that would allow the property to be returned to the tax rolls.

The city had repeatedly denied the church's request for a zoning variance to hold services in the building, saying it did not want the property taken off the tax rolls. In March, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer ruled that the restriction violated the church's right of free speech and free assembly.